Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Here at In Case You Missed It we like to fess up to our mistakes, errors, follies and bone-headed pleas whenever we can. A couple of years back we published one of our most popular posts titled Rent Seeking Parasites which accused the financial industry of parasitism, getting a free ride on the backs of its host, society - you and me. While this seemed a reasonable metaphor at the time operating as we were under the assumption that regulation and taxes would have to be reintroduced to curb their feeding excesses eventually, it has proven wrong. Parasites they are not - they are parasitoids, creatures that similarly live off the back of their hosts but eventually return the favour by killing them.

Don't you dare roll your eyes at the thought of another climate change, anti-oil screed, I promise to not even go there, even though it's the easiest path to prove our faith and reliance on crony capitalism and corporations is suicidal. No, instead we'll start in Greece, a country that's been forced to live under the indignity of not only being labeled one of the PIIGS but the worst of the bunch, a profligate, lazy, early-retiring, ouzo-swilling, tax cheater that built a shack out of straw. Despite the falsity of the stereotype or how they actually got in over their heads in debt, the Greeks have been pushed into debt-slavery, a no longer sovereign nation forced to accede to the austerity demands of the troika, the EU/ECB/IMF.

Strangely enough, these policies have not only led the Greek economy into a vicious debt trap circle - reduced spending leading to lower growth and the need for more borrowing to bridge the budget gaps provoking further calls for deeper cuts - but they've also effected people in the same depression-inducing way. Gross domestic product in the second quarter was down more than 7% from last year amid government spending cuts and tax increases that, combined, will add up to about 20% of GDP while unemployment is over 16%. Predictably, crime, homelessness, emigration and personal bankruptcies are on the rise. Tragically, as a result of these market forces, recorded suicides have roughly doubled since before the crisis to about six per 100,000 residents annually according to the Greek health ministry and a charitable organization called Klimaka.

The Greeks aren't alone in the suffering being induced in order to pay off the often fraudulent debt incurred in order to keep the financial ponzi scheme afloat while suffering under the humiliation of taking orders from the financial markets and their lackeys. Ireland's pot-o-gold bank guarantees led to overnight insolvency and a double austerity dose causing another mass emigration, Portugal's ignominious acceptance of the same troika treatment will produce the same cure as Ireland, Italy had their debt downgraded despite cutting, re-cutting and then cutting the budget some more to please the market wolves while Spain not only had a gun held to their head by the same hit men until they changed their constitution to 'limit' debt without a referendum a month before an election but also had to increase 'labour market flexibility', an Orwellian moniker which will somehow create more employment by making it easier to fire young workers. When markets attack French banks, rules are changed to protect them, but the assault on society causes lives to be lost when fruit stand owners use gasoline to light themselves on fire to draw attention to problems in Tunis or mix it with beer to literally drown their sorrows in Athens or when there's riots on the streets of London. The worst off seems to be Latvia, the anti-Iceland of Europe, a country that could become the first murder victim of neoliberal austerity measures.

Yet German bank inspired bailouts provided by the European Financial Stability Facility and the European Financial Stabilization Mechanism won't solve the problem, it will continue indefinitely without debt forgiveness. Ironically, these obligations being forced on the public will serve the same function as that of the war reparations forced upon Germany after the Treaty of Versailles when John Maynard Keynes warned the world that the "policy of reducing Germany to servitude for a generation, of degrading the lives of millions of human beings, and of depriving a whole nation of happiness should be abhorrent and detestable...even if it does not sow the decay of the whole civilized life of Europe". I think we can all still remember the seeds that were sown and how many lives were reaped thanks to that plan.

In America we need to be granted a little bit of poetic license to expand the metaphor a bit, after all it is the land of the ever-expanding waistband. According the the General Accountability Office, the Federal Reserve provided more than $16 trillion in total financial assistance to some of the largest financial institutions and corporations in the United States and around the world over the past couple of years. This goes along with the $1.2 trillion in slightly less secret back door loans we later found out about last year or the (only) $700 billion TARP money a couple of years back that everyone talks about. Hurray, the corporatocracy was brought back to life thanks to the politicians they paid for! Funny thing is this transfer of wealth hasn't trickled down to the people yet, nor have the efficiency gains of the past 30 odd years of economic growth. No, the result of the neoliberal free market driven policies of major tax cuts for high-income Americans, union-busting, aided and abetted by federal policy, and financial deregulation such as the repeal of Glass-Steagall, which has fed inequality because very high incomes come disproportionately from that sector, has strangely enough only benefited those the policies were meant to help, the rich and the corporations. Median incomes adjusted for inflation have fallen over that time while the number of Americans below the poverty line has reached 46 million with 21.6% of American children now living in poverty (predicted to hit 25% soon; it's 3.7% in Denmark). The very corporations who the Fed helped out instead of people are often making record profits from this poverty and play a part in the bloodbath, as this poverty is a death sentence.

Instead of using this infusion of cash along with the access granted to US and non-US banks and corporations to near-zero financing at the Fed window to you know, create jobs, financial firms have used it to increase our suffering while lining their pockets. They've thanked the people who cover their losses by betting on their death and creating new casino-like commodity markets, hurting the poor most as increases in the price of rice and gasoline hit them harder. The flip side of the profit prospect created by wheat price volatility for a corporation is starvation for the world's dispossessed thanks to the increased price of bread. A food system where Americans waste enough food everyday to fill the Rose Bowl is great for those who can afford the luxury. For those that can't, well, you know. Worse, a McDonald's corporation that took part in the $1.3 trillion short term lending bonanza gets to serve $5 Big Mac meals thanks in large part to the billions in corn subsidies lavished by the government in support of the unholy alliance of agribusiness and science to produce high-fructose corn syrop (HFCS) and ethanol to put in everything from french fries to feed for filet-o-fish or filling the Ford Fiesta.

The subsidies have manufactured a price inequality that helps junk food undersell nutritious-but-unsubsidized foodstuffs like fruits and vegetables. The end result is that budget wary consumers are increasingly forced by economic circumstance to "choose" the lower-priced junk food that their taxes support. The aggregate effect of such market manipulation across the agriculture industry is "that a dollar [can] buy 1,200 calories of potato chips or 875 calories of soda but just 250 calories of vegetables or 170 calories of fresh fruit". This Super-Size-Me economy leads to early death through obesity, diabetes and heart disease. This lifestyle non-choice has played a big role in the decline of life expectancy for women over the past 20 years in 313 counties in the United States, a problem exacerbated by poverty, with the proof played out in the fact that those in the top 20% of American incomes live, on average, at least 6.5 years longer than those in the lowest income group. So you see, privatizing both profits and losses of corporations is paid for in not only gold but also lives by society. It's become more than a crime to be poor - poverty is a death sentence and corporations, who we're told over and over are job creators, are in fact, executioners.

In a culture where Orwellian political vocabulary turns the idea of universal single-payer health care into "death panels" while advocating actually killing grandma and rationalizes disenfranchisement of "non-productive citizens", it should come as no surprise that Obama's faux-populist promise to veto any budget proposal that doesn't contain tax increases can be turned into a class war, when, in fact, the war has been hot for decades and it's pretty clear which side is winning. The reality is this war doesn't differentiate between innocent and guilty when choosing its victims though it does discriminate based on race just like capitalpunishment. Just imagine the cognitive dissonance involved in being both pro-life and pro-death. Murderous spectacles are put on to appease the mob with circenses as if the panem killing them weren't enough. Maybe this explains the indifference to executing possibly innocent men like Troy Davis in Georgia or the Tea Party cheering for the straight shooting style of killing kids, the mentally ill and the innocent among the 234 people Rick Perry has executed in Texas:

It's a death sentence to be poor, especially if you're among the 49.9 million Americans who lack health insurance, a number that soared by 13.3 million since 2000. The main driver in both the national and personal bankruptcy story is a health care system whose costs are spiraling out of control thanks to corporate greed in both the insurance and pharmaceutical industries. State enforced patent protection of the latter isn't only killing AIDS babies in Soweto while thanks to the former, the only evidence that really matters in determining treatment based on evidence-based medicine is what's in your wallet. Tea Partiers like to cheer on this corporate killing too (listen for it at 0:55):

Killing requires a large staff

Poverty is also the best recruiting tool ever invented by the ultimate killing machine, the armed forces, and thus provides the fodder to feed the military industrial complex. Again, corporations are there to innovate new ways of killing and can even fill the void with corporate mercenaries when volunteers run short. The stark contradiction between the money making mantra of murder and Christ's advice, "If you want to be perfect, go sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, then come follow me" lends a dark layer of irony to our present wars justified by condemning Islam as a death-glorifying cult. Even though we know innocent people will die when we're bombing, droning or whatever we call trying to kill brown people we've labeled terrorists in Pakistan, Yemen, Afghanistan or Libya, it's somehow different than when those terrorists kill innocent people when they blow themselves up on buses in London or trains in Madrid. We're Americans celebrating the illegal killing of the most-wanted criminal of our generation thanks to our culture of death or out of relief from a false belief they wouldn't be called to die as the perpetual war on terror would end with Osama bin Laden's death? USA! United States of Assassination! Woo hoo death to international rule of law!

What? Killing bin Laden didn't solve that war on terror problem? You mean, it's all related, people blowing themselves up at outdoor cafes, creating terrorists by raining death down on Tripoli, Kabul and Baghdad or being the only vote in the UN to support Israelis killing Palestinians, allowing illegal settlements on their land or even denying them statehood next month. Killing is killing, whether in the name of good, Zeus, protection, defense or Allah. Once you accept it as no more than collateral damage you think differently, become indifferent to death and probably think it's ok to torture while praying in a church that covers up for pedophiles. Another victory for Oceania over Eurasia or Eastasia won't alter the course in the perpetual war because there's money to be made for McDonnell Douglas, Boeing, BAE and IBM from death.

But if, as the Supreme Court and Mitt Romney say, corporations are people then shouldn't they get the death penalty for killing people? Even at a time when slavery was legal, America had the morality to realize corporate killing wasn't. The corporate death penalty could be applied in cases of "operating contrary to the public interest" or those that saw "a pattern of abuses" and result in their charters being revoked. Ah, those were the progressive days, the very time today's right-wingnuts would like to take us back to with its lack of child labor laws, clean water protection and such. Trials might go something like this if such a world still existed I suppose:

Yeah. We not only wage war and trample human rights for oil companies' drilling rights, we just make them pay a fine for destroying entire ecosystems and spraying chemicals with unknown long-term effects to clean up the surface for the cameras. We enable through our continued consumption and ignorance of corporate evasion of responsibility for less visible murder via contamination or explosions in places like Ecuador or Nigeria. Move on to do the same in the Arctic while other gas companies extracting using hydraulic fracturing which pollutes the very water table we rely on for life will make sure we don't figure out how their harming human life. Car companies? What better way to kill millions than by rigging the game to ensure we drive cars forever? Big tobacco serves as a role model for the Catholic Church on how to cover up scandals after killing millions more. Obfuscate, donate and litigate.

Wait. All this and no mention of Bhopal. Yeah, that's right, when 3,800 people are killed almost immediately when tonnes of toxic gas escape and today more than 100,000 people remain chronically ill from exposure, it's more of the same, obfuscate (corporate takeover of Union Carbide by Dow Chemical - it's not our fault!), donate (maybe a stadium for the Olympics!) and litigate. Rinse and repeat. How about Monsanto? Who could have foreseen that allowing a corporation to patent life would have, well, life-ending consequences, right? DeBeers, turning blood diamonds into love? The beverage industry from Coca-Cola to Red Bull and Budweiser, the fashion industry or even Hollywood for toxification, body image distortion and indoctrination? As long as there's an app for you iPhone to keep you connected who cares how many Apple kills to make them. What about the billions of people whose lives are threatened by the ecological disaster sure to come about as a result of the greed for profit written into the DNA of the corporate psychopaths we've created. Oh yeah, that's right, I made a no climate change promise. That would be controversial and might give someone the idea to protest, maybe even occupy Madrid's Plaza del Sol or decide to march to Brussels or, heaven forbid, occupy Wall Street in the heart of NYC if perhaps the corpocracy's killing of the middle class and slaughter of the poor weren't enough. Oh, some people have already done that, are heading there and doing that (see below for live stream when available), fighting our fight. If they need a suggestion for one demand mine is to bring back the corporate death penalty - capital punishment for corporations!

Friday, September 9, 2011

Whether you're in Poznan, Poland watching the road crews finally get to work seven months before the Euro 2012 tournament, or settling into the couch to watch the NFL kickoff tonight, all that matters is the game, futbol or football. It seems like just yesterday the Green Bay Packers took out the Pittsburgh Steelers to win the Super Bowl, a win clouded over by the threat of an owner's lockout to wrestle more revenue out of the circenses while the price of pan rises like, well, bread in the oven. It was further back though as the owners carried through with their collusion and imposed a lockout sometime later. That must have been further back too, cause it seems like the next day a judge sided with the players and ordered an end to the lockout. Was it the day after when the owners won an appeal to keep football shut down? Then there was news of a new deal being approved by the owners (31-0 with the Raiders abstaining, Al Davis always has to be a rebel) and a tense wait to see of the players would follow suit which they did. Does everything from politics to economics and sports have to be a never ending nightmarish soap opera? Whatever, here we are, everybody loves each other again and we're ready for some football. No harm no foul, right?

Well, not exactly. I give you the 2011-21 Collective Bargaining Agreement. What? No time to read the whole PDF? Don't care how the $10 billion pie will be divvied up anymore than the sucker watching his country funnel funds into road works or stadium projects for the next kickoff. Too caught up of late in the horse race coverage of the presidential campaign, double-dip recession or Oceania's latest military offensive. Read enough 9/11 10-year anniversary stories and are fed up with the circus surrounding the commemoration that coincides with the first Sunday of NFL football? You're in luck then as not only will you get a division by division NFL preview along with season predictions but also the key components of the new CBA interwoven throughout while only reading about someone else's god once. Let's start with the positive. You may have noticed the years 2011-21 a little above, you guessed it, that means we've got a 10-year deal and won't have to deal with the agony of negotiations like these again for awhile. Of course the owners' avarice left more than just a bad taste in fans' mouths as the drawn out process shortened training camp leaving less time for new coaches (eight new ones from this time last year) to implement new systems and have players get used to them, especially the rookies. The new deal brings with it a few notable changes as well but what's most important is the season kicks off tonight (Thursday) as the Super Bowl champions from two years ago, the New Orleans Saints, travel to Lambeau Field to play the Green Bay Packers, last year's winners of the Lambeau Trophy.

NFC East

Philadelphia Eagles: While everyone was still talking about the resurrection of Michael Vick (which earned him a $100 million contract), the team went shopping. They say that you can't buy championships, but this team looks like it has enough to at least buy the division.While they opened up the vault for Nnamdi Asomugha and Cromartie, they seemed to have forgotten they had needs elsewhere, like linebackers. More bizarrely, they promoted their offensive line coach to be the defensive coordinator. Speedster WR DeSean Jackson will be joined by Jeremy Maclin, who seems to be alright after a cancer scare, and eventually new addition Steve Smith. RB LeSean 'Shady' McCoy is looking to build on his breakout 2010 (1,080 yards rushing, 5.2 ypc, 78 receptions, 9 TDs) and will have former Dolphin Ronnie Brown to spell him while TE Brent Celek hopes Vick learns to throw to a tight end.

Dallas Cowboys: At this time last year the Cowboys were favourites to become the first team to play for a Super Bowl at home. Here we are a disastrous year later, Jason Garrett is the head coach, Rob Ryan's been brought in to turn around a defense that allowed the second most points in the league and everything is eerily calm. Too calm for Dallas. An easyish schedule is welcome relief for Jerry Jones' suddenly-low spending Cowboys who found themselves in a salary cap bind after the lockout was lifted. Also working in their favour is the return of a healthy QB Tony Romo and most of his offensive weapons. RB Felix Jones will get a shot at being a lead back with the release of Marion Barber; TE Jason Witten just puts up numbers year after year; WRs Miles Austin and Dez 'Bling for Nothing' Bryant could be the best 1-2 combo in the league. The offensive line is revamped and unknown while the defense is, well, let's say they at least still have DE DeMarcus Ware.

New York Giants: The other Manning, Eli, seemed to suffer from the same problem as his brother last year - a case of interceptitis, throwing a career-high and league-leading 25. Making things worse,he'll be short a couple targets with the departure or WR Steve Smith and TE Kevin Boss. WR Mario Manningham needs to have a big year and TE Travis Beckum needs to step up but the Giants will clearly have to lean on the RB duo of Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs. The D needs Osi Umenyiora to heal quickly from knee surgery he inexplicably waited to have until a few weeks into camp to support the talented bookend defensive ends, Justin Tuck and Jason Pierre-Paul. The secondary has seen a rash of injuries at cornerback, including first-round draft pick Prince Amukamara, so will need safeties Kenny Phillips, Antrel Rolle and Deon Grant to come up big.

Washington Redskins: What a mess. Who's the starting QB? Really, Rex Grossman or John Beck? (Update: It looks like Rex) Who's the starting RB? Cardinal castoff Tim Hightower, rookie Roy Helu or oft-injured Ryan Torain? (Update 2: Looks like Hightower) And Mike Shanahan's still the coach. Ok, to be fair both Hightower and Helu have looked good in the preseason, but it's only the preseason. WR Santana Moss is older and slower and Jabbar Gaffney is gonna be their #2. Ok. Oh, and TE Chris Cooley might be ready for the season opener but beyond that, the offense looks fine. Defense? Well, at least they finally got rid of their $100 million head-case locker room headache 'Fat' Albert Haynesworth and have installed a decent looking 3-4 front line. London Fletcher leads a strong linebacking corp which along with a tough secondary will at least make teams work to beat them week after week.

Let's stick to the good about the new CBA. Whether it's the threat of eventuall legal problems or just plain common sense, the league has finally begun to take the problem of long-term player disability and well, premature deaths, seriously. Six members of the 1994 San Diego Charger are now dead. There are no more two-a-day practices, fewer full-pad practices and expanded training-camp rosters. The CBA cut OTAs from 14 to 10 and nearly axed two-a-days. Not only should this relieve some of the long term pounding on players and bodies, it could pay short term dividends too in that in season injuries should be reduced. ESPN's Sport Science estimates that some 70% of all NFL injuries occur during practice, less injuries should equal better quality games. Win-win.

NFC North

Green Bay Packers: Repeat? So much fell into place for the Packers last year. They lost RB Ryan Grant and TE Jermichael Finley early along with 13 more players to injured reserve but managed to find enough spare parts to sneak themselves into the playoffs. Easy to forget that they finished with the same 10-6 record as the Buccaneers but got in on tie-breakers. Hard not to like their chances with both Grant and Finley back to join QB Aaron Rodgers and basically the same cast as last year. They only signed their own free agents, brought back the entire coaching staff and continued to build via the draft. This will be their third year in the same defensive system that will once again include Charles Woodson and Clay Matthews. Enough said.

Detroit Lions: Do you have it yet? Lion fever seems to be sweeping the land as the pussycats from Detroit ended 2010 on a three game winning streak. That's more wins than they had in the previous TWO YEARS. QB Matthew Stafford seems to be back from the shoulder injury that put him out for the year. Megatron (WR Calvin Johnson) returns to dominate little DBs and if Jahvid Best has put the turf toe problems that plagued his rookie year behind him, the offense could be ready to, well, roar. On the other side of the ball opposing teams will have to deal with Ndamukong, Suh!

Chicago Bears: Ever woken up and not known whether or not what you just dreamed was real or not? Happened to me late last January when I had an image of the Bears playing in the NFC Championship game and some kid named Caleb Hanie replace QB Jay Cutler and had a chance to upset the Packers. Weird, huh? Well, Cutlers back despite being sacked 52 times last year, 12 more times than any other QB. The Bears traded away their best pass catcher, TE Greg Olsen because Mike Martz doesn't use tight ends, basically dumped team leader C Olin Kreutz and then went picking in the Cowboy trash heap, inexplicably picking up RB Marion Barber and WR Roy Williams. As always seems to be the case, the Bears D should be stout but scratch below the surface, behind the likes of Julius Peppers and Israel Idonije and there's not much depth there, a recipe for trouble.

Minnesota Vikings: Could last year have gone any worse for the Vikings? The Favre fiasco, the Moss meltdown, the stadium fall-down. Lots more questions too. New QB Donovan McNabb is making his third stop in three years, is he done? Can Percy Harvin deal with his migraines and be a #1 WR? Can Bernard Berrian or Michael Jenkins fill the #2 WR position? What will replace the Williams wall in the middle of the defensive line? Is RB Adrian Peterson at the very least some kind of demi-god being able to run as well as he does behind perhaps the worst offensive line in football? Will new head coach Leslie Frazier be able to turn the team around? Possibly, maybe, doubtful, who knows, yes and not this year are all the answers you need I'm afraid. On the positive side, PK Ryan Longwell has only missed three field goals in two years, punter Chris Kluwe is pretty darn good too and #1 draft pick QB Christian Ponder has a year to learn the system.

Audacious Augury - Packers 13-3; Lions 9-7; Bears 7-9; Vikings 5-11

Aside from a few lame attempts at clarifying the blurry rules around blows to the head and completed passes as points of emphasis, the biggest change affecting actual play this year will hurt the Bears more than any other team in the league. No, I'm not talking about how all scoring play reviews can now be initiated from the replay booth, that fields have to be green, or game-day testing for performance-enhancing substances but not recreational drugs. Thanks to their strong return game, the Bears averaged the best drive-start position in the NFL last season so it's no surprise they opposed the NFL rule change moving kickoffs up five yards to the 35-yard line. They went so far as to ignore the change in the first preseason game in protest as the shorter field will result in more touchbacks, less thrilling Devin Hester returns and probably fewer injuries. I see it as another nod to the realities of injuries but many see it as another step in the transformation to the NFL - No Fun League.

NFC West

St Louis Rams: Coming off a season in which they won more games than the previous three (7 to 6) and an offensive rookie of the year victory for QB Sam Bradford, St. Louis fans can be forgiven for partying like it's 1999. A two-word caveat: Josh McDaniels. Hired after destroying the Denver Broncos, McDaniels has been given the offensive coordinator job. Rams fans should be glad he's only running the offense, something he knows a little about. Oh and the schedule, games against the Eagles, Giants, Ravens, Packers, Cowboys and Saints before there first divisional game plus a late road games against the Steelers. Plus Steven Jackson is a year older. On the flip side, so is Bradford who doesn't have a superstar receiver but a stable of no-names plus rookie TE Lance Kendricks. The defense looks pretty good but nothing will help more than having the good fortune of playing a bunch of late-season games against the worst division in the history of the NFL.

Arizona Cardinals: Ken Whisenhunt and the Cardinals went all in for QB Kevin Kolb. They gave up CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, a second-round draft pick and about as much cash as Sam Bradford will get over the next five years to get him. But there were also 50 other new players on the 90-man roster as sure, no one even remembers who their QB was last year but that's partially because there were a few of them, none could stay healthy due to the porous offensive line. Unfortunately for Kolb and RB Beanie Wells, next-to-nothing was done to improve the blocking up front. They brought Ray Horton from the Steelers to be the new defensive coordinator but unfortunately couldn't bring the team. He'll have to make do with a lot less. If Kolb just manages to throw it up to the $120 million man Larry Fitzgerald enough, they could win six and be in the running for the division.

San Francisco 49ers: A new coach in Harbaugh and lowered expectation could do wonders. Time will tell if his first big decision, passing on Jake Locker, Blaine Gabbert and Christian Ponder (all went in the five picks that followed the Niners #7 pick LB Aldon Smith) and taking QB Colin Kaepernick in the second round signalling at least one more year of the Alex Smith era will prove wise. If Smith plays anything like a first round draft choice (2006) should, they could win nine games with the addition of WR Braylon Edwards to compliment oft-injured or holding out in the preseason Michael Crabtree and TE Vernon Davis. Chances are though, Smith will stumble again and RB Frank Gore will be forced to carry too much of the load and get hurt again. Last year I thought the 'niners had a great defense, this year, they've still got Patrick Willis but I've tempered my expectations with a new surrounding cast that may need time to gel. It's rebuilding mode in San Francisco.

Seattle Seahawks: In the bizarro-world of the NFL, the Shithawks lost more games than they won to get into the playoffs with a week 17 victory over the Rams while the Bucs were 10-6 on the outside looking in last year. Even stranger, Seattle beat the Saints in the wildcard game and almost upset the Bears for a place in the NFC Championship game. Don't look for a repeat. After losing Matt Hasselback to the Titans, the Shithawks have Tarvaris Jackson as the starting quarterback and Charlie Whitehurst in relief. Seriously. WR Sidney Rice was brought in along with TE Zach Miller while the youth movement elsewhere continues but don't look for more than five wins which won't be enough to even win the NFC West. The Andrew Luck lottery winners perhaps?

Rookie salaries were brought under control with a maximum total compensation per draft class in exchange for a quicker path to free agency, weird, but they got this one right too. Last year's #1 pick Sam Bradford was and will be the last to land a monster six-year deal worth $78 million with $50 million guaranteed. This year's #1, Cam Newton, wound up with a deal worth about half that. This is at least partially compensated by the quicker path to free agency, they're eligible after three years, or a franchise tender that forces the team to pay a top 10 salary at the player's position for the fourth year. Another bonus, not only will the weasel agents be making money off smaller contracts, the maximum take on rookie deals was capped at 2%, down from 3%. All drafter rookies get four year contracts while those undrafted get three and there will be strong anti-holdout rules which sound great but seems pretty vague to me.

NFC South

Atlanta Falcons: The Falcons are looking to finish off what they started and expect to be playing in Indianapolis in February. The offense returns the league leader in receptions (115), WR Roddy White, RB Michael Turner who led the league in carries for the second time in three years and QB Matt Ryan to distribute the ball while the rest got stronger in the off-season. They traded up to draft WR Julio Jones, perhaps the most talked about player in training camp. Plus there's still TE Tony Gonzalez who at 34 has definitely lost a step but is still perhaps the greatest tight end of all time. The defensive unit stayed pretty much intact and adding DE Ray Edwards should improve the pass rush.

New Orleans Saints: With the memory of the Shithawk's Marshawn Lynch's Beast Mode wildcard game clinching run still fresh, the Saints hope to move on now that they've recovered from the Super Bowl hangover. The biggest difference between the '09 and '10 version of the Saints was turnovers; they went from plus-11 in turnover ratio to minus-6. Brees threw only 11 interceptions in 2009 but had a career-high 22 last season and the defense didn't create as many opportunities. To that end, the Saints added new blood via the draft and free agency on the defensive side of the ball. They waved goodbye to perennial underperformer Reggie Bush and welcomed RB Darren Sproles and 2nd round pick RB Mark Ingram to pick up the slack and then some in what is suddenly a crowded backfield along with Chris Ivory and Pierre Thomas.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Last years youngest team returns the league's hottest new triplet - QB Josh Freeman (25 TD passes versus only 6 ints), RB LaGarrette Blount (1,007 yards rushing in about half a season's work) and WR Mike Williams (team record 11 TD receptions) in the mold of Aikman, Smith and Irvin. They finished 10-6 last year and would have won the west handily, instead they barely missed out on the last wildcard spot to the eventual champion Packers. As they did last year, they invested their top two picks in the defensive line, hoping to get some kind of pass rush. When I started writing this post up a couple weeks or so ago, I originally had the Bucs finishing higher than the Saints but after seeing their offense sputter in the preseason, chickened out and swapped places with the Saints. We'll see if I need to remember that preseason doesn't mean anything.

Carolina Panthers: The Panthers look good to repeat as the #1 team - picking at next year's draft that is. For now of course, hope springs eternal and it's all about this year's #1 overall pick, Heisman Trophy winning QB Cam Newton out of Auburn. Coach John Fox is out, Ron Rivera is in and he's not inheriting the worst 2-14 team you could imagine. They've still got RBs DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, getting older WR Steve Smith and brought in TE Greg Olsen so Newton will have weapons and a coach who's not afraid to use them like Fox. Anything should be better than last year - last in the NFL in passing offense yards (2,635), yards per attempt (5.4) and first downs (125), and the only team to post a single-digit touchdown total (9). Jon Beason is back, if banged up, after being re-signed in the offseason to lead the defense with a new coordinator, Sean McDermott tasked with turning around the 26th ranked unit. Things will have to go just run for the Panthers not to be in the running for the 2012 Andrew Luck Sweepstakes.

While the rookies will make a little less, the veterans will probably make a bit more. Minimum salaries will also be increased and the offseason got five weeks shorter, and easier as coaches cannot make players report to team facilities until late April. There will be four fewer organized team activities, fewer full-contact practices in the preseason and regular season and a lower limit to the amount of practice time and contact. Over the next 10 years, additional funding for retiree benefits of between $900 million and $1 billion. The largest single amount, $620 million, will be used for a new "Legacy Fund" which will be devoted to increasing pensions for pre-1993 retirees. Additionally, improvements will be made to post-career medical options, the disability plan, the 88 Plan, career transition and degree completion programs, and the Player Care Plan.

AFC East

New England Patriots: I hate Bill Belichick but you've gotta give him credit. His team keeps winning year in, year out and he keeps making great deals for players and draft picks. This year's projects are big. Literally. Among others he picked up 'Fat' Albert Haynseworth for a fifth-round draft choice after the Redskins gave him all the money he'll ever need and Chad Ochocinco for a fifth- and sixth-round pick from the Bengals. Albert has to show he still has desire and that his knees will hold up and Chad needs to get his head back in the game off of Twitter, but both only have upside and only cost draft picks that Belichick has stockpiledd over the years. Moving to a 4-3 defensive alignment will put Haynesworth next to Vince Wilfork, an immovable force. Two-time league MVP QB Tom Brady's numbers almost don't make sense, 36 TD passes versus only 4 interceptions last year. WR Wes Welker seems fully healthy coming into the year, both second year TEs Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez look to duplicate their rookie years and the backfield will be led by the law firm, BenJarvus Green-Ellis and spark plug Danny Woodhead. The Patriots will be in the Super Bowl.

New York Jets: Entering his third year as a pro, GQ QB Mark Sanchez is looking to play in his third AFC Championship game - and this time win. All the news is about Plaxico Burress, joining the teams via the Giants and a 20-month prison stint for shooting himself in a nightclub, but the big pickup is veteran WR Derrick Mason. Will Shonn Greene step up or will LaDainian Tomlinson have to carry the load at RB again? Look for Greene to emerge. They've got two great cover guys on the corners in Darrell Revis and Antonio Cromartie bud Ryan's schemes will have to cover for an otherwise general lack of speed on defense. Working most against them though - it doesn't help they've always gotta go through the Patriots.

Miami Dolphins: The Dolphins 7-9 finish last year was even worse than it looked. They were 1-7 at home and in five of those games they had the opportunity to win or tie a close game with a fourth-quarter scoring drive and failed. Three of their losses were to Buffalo, Detroit and Cleveland. The team took a shot at getting a new coach and QB but all they wound up with was Matt Moore, so looks like Tony Sparano's squad will be saddled with QB Chad Henne again. They upgraded their offensive line (first-round pick Pouncey was drawing favorable comparisons to his Steelers All-Pro twin brother, Maurkice) for Reggie Bush and rookie Daniel Thomas to run behind, replacing Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams at running back. WR Brandon Marshall’s off-field problems, which included the arrest of his wife after Marshall was found stabbed at his home in April, culminated with him being diagnosed and treated for borderline personality disorder this offseason. An 1-4 or 0-5 start against the likes of New England, San Diego, Houston and the Jets could bring out the boo birds and Matt Moore.

Buffalo Bills: Haven't the Bills moved to Toronto yet? I mean really, they've had a longer playoff drought than the war in Afghanistan, it's been a decade! The worst team against the run in 2010 lost their top two tacklers and so will need LB Shawne Merriman to come back and be the player he was for the Chargers. QB Ryan Fitzpatrick was actually decent last year helping WR Stevie Johnson to a huge year. The offensive line is a mess limiting the strong 1-2 RB tandem of Fred Jackson and CJ Spiller all of which make the Bills one of the Andrew Luck lottery entrants.

Hopeful Hunch - Patriots 12-4; Jets 11-5; Dolphins 6-10; Bills 4-12

So, what was it all for? Why the lockout, the drawn out negotiations. Oh yeah, the nearly $10 billion revenue pie to be divvied up between millionaire players and billionaire owners. So, who got more cash? Well, as usual, the math can be made up to support whichever side your arguing for or against. Heading into the lockout no one could even agree on the baseline revenue to use when determining the percentages allocated to each side. The owners' definition, and that of the old CBA of 'Total Revenue' was actually revenue minus certain expenses while the players based their claim on all the revenue. The new CBA states that beginning in 2012, a salary cap to be set based on a combined share of "all revenue", a new model differentiated by revenue source with no expense reductions (the old players measure). Players will receive 55% of national media revenue, 45% of NFL Ventures revenue, and 40% of local club revenue. For comparison, I had the players' share of "all revenue" at 50.6% in 2009. Wait that doesn't make sense, trying to update this before the game is pissing me off, I'll come back to it later. On with the show!

AFC North

Baltimore Ravens: Along with the Eagles and Colts, the Ravens are the only teams to have reached the playoffs the past three years. QB Joe Flacco has improved his numbers each of those years. Each year the expectation they take out the Steelers increases. This year, they do it. Ranking 10th on defense in the NFL would be an achievement with any other team outside of the Steelers, it was a disappointment in 2010 for Baltimore. First round pick CB Jimmy Smith starting opposite Cary Williams will help bring the defense back up to Ravens' standard. The pickup of the best FB in football, Vonta Leach, should help a weak offensive line open holes for RB Ray Rice to squirt through. He'll keep helping in the passing game too, since the start of 2008 Rice leads all NFL running backs in receptions, yards and receiving first downs. Rounding out the attack, WR Lee Evans was brought in to stretch the field and open up the middle for WR Anquain Boldin. Week 1 sets the tone for the year as they take on the ...

Pittsburgh Steelers: The Super Bowl curse and more off-season weirdness will force the Steelers from their perch atop the AFC North. The Steel Curtain and defense is what usually comes to mind when you talk about Pittsburgh (league leading 48 sackss last year) and though cracks are beginning to show, it should be more than solid once again. A lot hinges on safety Troy Polamalu, who suffered an Achilles injury late last year, returning to the same form that brought him the defensive player of the year award last year. Outside Polamalu, there's linebackers James Harrison and Lawrence Timmons who will vie for the same hardware this year, a solid line but an otherwise vulnerable secondary. The offense looks to have potential as Ben Rapeslisberger has a stable of young receivers at his disposal in speedster Mike Wallace, Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders (when healthy) and of course Hines Ward plus they've brought in Jerricho Cotchery. Tight end Heath Miller is always steady, as well while tailback Rashard Mendenhall has become one of the elite backs in the league. If they stay healthy they've always got a shot.

Cleveland Browns: You heard it here first - the gift of an easy schedule for the division will allow the Browns, yep, the Browns to be in playoff contention this year. Shrewd drafting and a raft of extra draft picks should put them in next year. Of course this hangs on the shoulders of 2nd year QB Colt McCoy but after being pushed into earlier than planned service last year, he gave Browns fans hope for the future. Pushed into service after injuries to Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace, McCoy made his debut against the Steelers, not a dream scenario for a rookie QB. While he lost that game, he showed enough to keep the job and went on the put up some decent stats, completing over 60% of his passes. RB Peyton Hillis turned in an even better season, battering defenses on his way to 1,177 yards on the ground on 4.4 ypc, 61 receptions and 13 total TDs. His bulldozer style leaves him susceptible to injury, it'll help if 2nd year back Monterio Hardesty can give him the odd breather. Wide receiver is wide open with rookie Greg Little the leading contender to be the guy. The new kickoff rule will hurt the Browns and dynamic returner Josh Cribbs. The new coach Pat Shurmur brings with him a new 4-3 defense which will see two rookies and another player with no career stats up front. But the schedule maker has been kind as they'll line up four times against teams from the NFC West so the Browns could in theory sneak into the playoffs. Could being the operative word.

Cincinnati Bengals: Saying goodbye to the diva WR tandem of Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens will be seen as a good move in the future but this year will be painful for the Bengals. Rookie A.J. Green (#4 overall pick) and Jerome Simpson could even be better, again in the future. Yep, the future, when rookie QB Andy Dalton is an improvement on the departed Carson Palmer. Thank dog for that soft schedule as it's gonna feel like that future is a long way off this year. RB Cedric Benson got out of jail in time for the regular season and will need to play well in new offensive coordinator Jay Gruden's run-first approach. The defense has been shuffled around, losing their best cornerback while picking up a few free agents to plug the holes. Watch for Rey Maualuga playing middle linebacker this year, his natural position. This team is in rebuilding mode, code for contenders in the Andrew Luck lottery.

A societal positive from having the new CBA and football this year besides the enjoyment of the game is that America dodged a serious crime wave. I'm not just talking about the bored, pissed off, disgruntled football fans suddenly with time on their hands and empty, traffic-less streets around stadiums to loot and pillage, jobless, nothing to do on Sundays. I'm talking about the players themselves, perhaps the most lawless group I can think of. When Ray Lewis says there's gonna be a crime wave, it's best we listen. Kenny Britt, Cedric Benson. Fortunately, they did and made a deal.

AFC South

Texas Texans: If we just keep picking the Texans to finally fulfill their potential and surpass the Colts we've gotta be right sometime, right? All the offensive weapons are back in place, QB Matt Schaub, breakout player of the year RB Arian Foster (1,616-yard season and rushing title) and all-world WR Andre Johnson should be buoyed by the full return to health of TE Owen Daniels who never came fully back last year after a season-ending torn ACL two years ago. Wade Phillips was brought in to make something of the disaster that was the Texas defense last year when teams passed on them at will. Free-agent cornerback Johnathan Joseph and free-agent safety Danieal Manning were brought in giving hope of an improvement from terrible to average. Switching from a 4-3 to a 3-4 look hinges on Mario Williams making the switch to an outside linebacker as his play could really open the field for LBs DeMeco Ryans and Brian Cushing to become tackling machines. They also need their first two draft picks J.J. Watt and Brooks Reed to come up big. Another huge opening Sunday battle against the Colts will go a long way in determining the AFC South winner, if it's not the Texans this year, big changes will come next season.

Indianapolis Colts: Rumors of a second neck operation (denied by the Colts) and a slow recovery has me spooked about Peyton Manning and without Peyton this is a very average team. OK, worse than average as their recently signed insurance policy is named Kerry Collins. Even before the surgery, Manning was human at times last year, if you call 450 of 679, 66.3%, 4700 yards, 33 TD's, 17 INT's human that is. TE Dallas Clark is back along with WRs Reggie Wayne, Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie (until his next concussion) but if it isn't Peyton throwing to them expectations take a big hit. RB Joseph Addai remains the workhouse but should face a challenge from rookie Delone Carter if he gets dinged again. Defense has always felt like an afterthought in Indy but the longer Peyton is out the more new additions Drake Nevis, Jamaal Anderson and Tommie Harris need to help the front be better as secondary depth is a big concern. Could the Colts be looking at a Cowboy-style meltdown as the Super Bowl hosts?

Jacksonville Jaguars: Mediocrity your name is the Jacksonville Jaguars. QB David Garrard epitomizes averageness for years, then has a bad practice and is released hours after being paraded across the stage at the team's kickoff auction and five days before the season opener. Suddenly, the teams QB is Luke McKnown. Yep, Luke, not Blaine. Feels like Jacksonville residents can look forward to a slew of home blackouts again this year. If you've heard of any of the WRs, you must live in Jacksonville. Yeah, RB Maurice Jones-Drew is really good and TE Marcedes Lewis almost has a cool name and caught 10 TDs last year but that's it. Name a defensive player. Yeah, I thought so. Tenth overall draft pick QB Blaine Gabbert should make his debut in Los Angeles next year for the good of the franchise and the league.

Tennessee Titans: The big news in the Titans training camp revolved around the signing of RB Chris Johnson, the leagues leading rusher over the past three years. Well, CJ2K signed a $53.5 million four-year extension with $30 million guaranteed. Unfortunately, they waited until just over a week before the games account to finally get it done, making a slow, careful start likely. After finishing in the division's basement losing eight of their last nine, the Titans fired Jeff Fisher and brought in Mike Munchak and got the eighth overall draft pick which they turned into QB Jake Locker having said goodbye to head case Vince Young. Wisely, they decided to bring in a veteran to groom the youngster and wait until he's ready. Unfortunately, that QB is Matt Hasselback. On the plus side WR Kenny Britt somehow avoided staying out of jail or even suspended despite having had four brushes with the law since last October but has had nagging hamstring issues and beyond TE Jared Cook the cupboard is pretty bare. The defense got bigger up front in the offseason but the secondary looks a little unsettled. They'll battle the Jags to stay out of the cellar.

The biggest non-change to the CBA was sticking to the 16-game regular season. The owners put forward an 18-game proposal last year (along with a reduction in preseason games) in a blatant attempt to gain bargaining leverage. It was plain stupid in so many ways. While more real games would have meant more real money, it would also mean more real injuries and more real long term damage to players' health. Plus it would've forced the addition of even more asterisk marks to the record books as old standards would've fallen left and right. A dark cloud on the horizon - the issue will be revisited in 2013.

AFC West

San Diego Chargers: All the pieces seem to be in place for the Chargers. Again. They added Takeo Spikes and Bob Sanders to the #1 defense in the NFL plus Corey Liuget, picked 18th overall in the draft. They lost RB Darren Sproles but will have bowling ball Mike Tobert and Ryan Matthews to tote the rock and WR Vincent Jackson and TE Antonio Gates for QB Philip Rivers to throw to all year for the returning #1 offense. Did I say they had the #1 offense and defense? Yep. Did they still manage to miss the playoffs. Yep. How the #@ck did that happen? Special teams that couldn't have qualified for the special olympics. The question of whether or not the special teams cost three games and the AFC West is debatable, but they were truly atrocious. I guess that make this the only place to mention a team getting a new special teams coordinator, hello Rich Bisaccia. No matter the cause, if the Chargers miss the playoffs again this year, Norv Turner will be looking for a job.

Kansas City Chief: Last year's surprise division winners brought in Steve Breaston and drafted Jon Baldwin in the 1st round to add a WR threat opposite Dwayne Bowe who took the big step forward last year. Baldwin proceeded to pick a locker-room fight with Thomas Jones and hurt his thumb meanin he probably won't contribute much early. It should be the Jamaal Charles show though, last year he was the NFL second leading rusher with 1,467 yards despite not even leading his team in carries, earning an unheard of 6.4 YPC. Unspectacular yet steady QB Matt Cassels is back but I just hope the offense figures out how the get RB/WR McDexter McCluster involved cause I love saying his name. On defense, AFC sack leader Tamba Hali was rewarded for his 14.5 sacks with a a five-year, $60 million deal with $35 million guaranteed. The Chiefs better jump out of the gate early as their late season schedule is brutal. From Weeks 11 to 15, Kansas City plays five 2010 playoff teams, including the four teams that went to the conference championship games: Green Bay, Chicago, Pittsburgh and the New York Jets. The other 2010 playoff team in that mix is New England. Ouch!

Oakland Raiders: The Hue Jackson era has begun. All hail Hue. Who the heck is Hue? Yeah, we must be talking about Al Davis' Raiders, always a mystery. Despite the slow but steady progress under Vince Cable that saw the Raiders post their first winning season since 2002 (maybe he beat up too many players) Jackson was elevated from offensive coordinator, but unfortunately the team lost more than it gained in the offseason. The Raiders managed to pull off a few victories last year they shouldn't have and will fall back to Earth behind QB Jason Campbell. RB Darren McFadden went from bust to brilliant exploding for 1,157 rushing yards and 10 total TDs but still has a penchant for getting hurt, missing much of training camp with a broken orbital lobe. They traded down at TE, bringing in Kevin Boss from the Giants for the departed Zach Miller. At WR, Jacoby Ford filled in admirably for always injured Darius Heyward-Bey and Louis Murphy and they also drafted speedster Denarius Moore, this year's training camp MVP (and a RB named Taiwan!) Losing shutdown corner Nandi Asomugha to the Eagles via free agency leaves a big whole on defense, though the defensive front of Richard Seymour, Tommy Kelly, Matt Shaughnessy and Lamarr Houston should do their part.

Denver Broncos: No playoffs since 2005. Sixth defensive coordinator in six years. What happened to the Broncos? Well, at least they got rid of Josh McDaniels and brought in John Fox giving the team a chance to return to normalcy. God boy Tim Tebow will continue to be a distraction but Kyle Orton will start the year at QB, a meaningless controversy diverting attention from the most pressing deficiency, the bottom ranked defense in the NFL. After all-world DB Champ Bailey there's a steep drop off in talent, they need Elvis Dumervil to regain his 2009 form and #2 overall draft pick LB Von Miller to step up. Fox loves to run, so don't expect the same numbers as last year for fantasy breakout star WR Brandon Lloyd. Instead, look for a heavy dose of RB Knowshon Moreno, who will of course break down at some point this year, and offseason acquisition Willis McGahee.

Before getting down to the nitty-gritty of who's gonna take home Super Bowl XLVI, a few random darts at the end of the year awards. Coach of the year, I'll hedge my bets and say the Rams Steve Spagnulo or, if the Lions manage to get into the playoffs, Jim Schwartz. The offensive rookie of the year at this point looks like a toss up between Julio Jones and Mark Ingram (with A.J. Green a strong third). Give it to JJ. Defensive ROY seems to be Von Miller of the Broncos in a walk if you believe what you read. And league MVP? Smart money's always on a QB from a winning team so I'll take Aaron Rodgers as the safest bet, shading out Brady, Rivers and Vick.

The Playoffs

In the NFC, the divisional winners will be the Eagles, Packers, Falcons and Rams while both wildcard teams will come out of the South, the Saints and Bucs. The AFC lines up the Patriots, Ravens, Texans and Chargers as the divisional leaders with the Jets and Steelers getting in as wilcards. The road to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and Super Bowl XLVI will be going through Wisconsin and California but I'm going predict that the Atlanta Falcons will upset the cheese heads to represent the NFC while the New England Patriots will take out the Bolts in San Diego. And that February 5, 2012 game? Well, experience matters with the world watching so I'll take my chances with Tom Brady winning his fourth ring over Matt Ryan giving fans in Boston another duck boat victory parade.

Fancy Fantasy Flavour Fixings It's seems only fitting that in an America where fantasy politics, fantasy economics and fantasy wars dominate the lives of the populace that fantasy football has become as popular as the real thing. President Obama plays blame badminton with the likes of Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry, we play dumb to the funneling of the immense gains made over the past few decades to engorge the rich while starving the poor and kinetic military actions provide victories for Oceania. As long as we've got Aaron Rodgers, Adrian Peterson and Roddy White we should be okay week to week without worrying about our bench strength (good on you if you wound up with that triplet in your league) but not many teams or families have that luxury. The biggest victory I take out of the new collective bargaining agreement and thus the fact we'll be enjoying the NFL again tonight is the power of collectivism, here in Poland they would have called it Solidarity. The players held together despite decertification and Vincent Jackon and Logan Mankin. A New Hope, no, probably just the reality of greed, getting what they can now, but a Return of the Jedi at the very least.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Whether or not Marie Antoinette ever uttered the phrase that modern myth-makers have attributed to the much maligned monarch to help spark the French Revolution, there is less doubt surrounding the harsh realities of a peasant's life in late18th century France. Rising bread prices, unemployment, rising war-related debt, an inefficient financial system leading to difficulties managing said debt exacerbated by the burden of an inadequate system of taxation and a ruling class disconnected and isolated from the realities of the day-to-day life of the population are all cited as causes leading up to the storming of the Bastilles. Fortunately, as North Americans finish their Labor Day holiday (Labour up north, eh), they can enjoy those picnic hotdogs all the more in the knowledge we've come a long way since 1789, as democracy and capitalism have spread and taken hold guaranteeing an equal voice and opportunity for all.

The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting
- Milan Kundera

The trick you see is to help/make a majority of the people ignore the relevant facts by distorting or drowning them out. Let's start with the holiday itself. The first Labor Day celebration in the US was nothing but a parade organized by unions in New York on September 5, 1882, as a celebration of "the strength and spirit of the American worker." Their goals were simple: decent wages, an eight-hour workday and the right to organize. The national holiday wasn't instated until twelve years later in 1894 when President Grover Cleveland needed good publicity cover for, get this, crushing a labour strike by sending in troops during the economic depression known as the Panic of 1893. Politicians and labour leaders were content to keep the holiday in September, far from the growing popularity of May Day. Both the workers and Cleveland turned out to be the losers as Grover lost the Democratic nomination in 1896 and the reforms labour sought did not come about for nearly half a century when the Depression-era fair labour laws that were passed under Franklin D. Roosevelt finally set standards like the eight-hour day and an end to child labour.

Those laws (and the US hegemony of the post-WWII world) set the stage for an era of unparallelled growth and prosperity. All this success inevitably bred the hunger for more, and more now. Satiating today's desires became more important than tomorrow's which were less pressing than next week's. In the business world this was reflected in a culture that rewarded results this quarter through increasing stock prices and executive pay and neglected the necessity for planning for a few years down the road. People worked longer hours, women entered the workforce then they took on two jobs or overtime. When this wasn't enough they simply financed it in an orgy of credit cards, payday loans and even turned their homes into cash machines. Of course all of this was cheered on by corporate America which adapted by shifting the entire economy away from manufacturing towards financing all that debt. General Electric doesn't make their money producing light bulbs, they are now first and foremost a finance company. This seemed great for everyone for awhile, those at the bottom needed money to keep buying more stuff, those at the top needed somewhere to invest all the cash they were making and the financial intermediaries gladly created ever more complex securities to shuffle the money from one to the other.

Well, we know all know how that wound up. Luckily the US today is nothing like France in 1789, you remember - "Rising bread prices, unemployment, rising war-related debt, an inefficient financial system leading to difficulties managing said debt exacerbated by the burden of an inadequate system of taxation and ruling royalty disconnected and isolated from the realities of the day-to-day life of the population". We're told by government statistics that inflation is under control so bread prices can't be a problem; somehow printing trillions to bail out the banks and to lend them at near zero interest rates hasn't affected prices. Oh, that's right, core inflation is what they talk about. Core, meaning the price of everything that we don't need to live, as it excludes the price of food and energy. Lucky those new iPads are tasty and keep us warm at night. Meanwhile, the financial industry has done a great job of using their free cash to bid up the price of food and oil.

"Wealth is like sea-water; the more we drink, the thirstier we become"
- Arthur Schopenhauer

Incomes have risen to meet the real increased cost of living - if you were already rich to start with at least. Today, he richest 1% of households earn as much each year as the bottom 60% put together taking in a quarter of the nation's income; they possess as much wealth as the bottom 90%; with each passing year, a greater share of the nation’s treasure flows through their hands and into their pockets giving them control of 40% of the nation's riches. In twenty-five years they have more than doubled their share of income while wealth rose from 33% of the total. "Meh", says Joe six-pack, "it's not so much how you divide the pie that matters, it's how big the pie is, besides, one day, I could be part of the 1%." Unbeknownst to him, median incomes declined outright from 1999 to 2009 for those lucky enough to still have a job. For 90 percent of American workers, incomes have stagnated or fallen for the past three decades, while they've ballooned at the top, and exploded at the very tippy-top: By 2008, the wealthiest 0.1% were making 6.4 times as much as they did in 1980 (adjusted for inflation).

Cruelly, the August jobs report released just last week showed that no jobs were created which really represents a net loss as at least 125,000 are needed to keep up with population growth. Since the end of 2007, America’s potential labour force – working-age people who want jobs – has grown by over 7 million but the number of Americans with jobs has shrunk by more than 300,000. We're told the unemployment rate has been over 9% for a couple of years which sounds horrible enough but is nothing when compared to reality. Again, statistics are manipulated to manufacture cold comfort as reported unemployment only measures active job seekers and takes no account of underemployment. Taking into account long-term discouraged workers who were defined out of official existence in 1994 and those forced to work part-time because they cannot find full-time work, the SGS Alternate Unemployment Rate is 22.8%.

Did someone say rising war related debt? Again, if you live in America, about half of you have been convinced that the debt was either created by greedy teachers or is part of President Obama's plan to sell you into indentured servitude to his Muslim Kenyan drunk uncle. Step back, get off the Tea Party, Koch crack. If the Bush-era tax cuts are renewed next year, that policy will by 2019 be the single largest contributor to the nation's public debt -- "the sum of annual budget deficits, minus annual surpluses" -- according to new (well, May) analysis from the non-partisan Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. Graph's on the right. These tax breaks, combined with the cost of fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, will account for nearly half the public debt in 2019, measured as a percentage of economic output.

Oh, it only gets worse war worriers. These figures surely underestimated the costs associated with almost 50% of returning troops eligible to receive some level of disability payment and more than 600,000 treated so far in veterans’ medical facilities. But the social costs, reflected in veteran suicides (which have topped 18 per day in recent years) and family breakups, are incalculable. Am I the only one twisted enough to find it funny that so many people have been convinced to back the union busting way of governors from Wisconsin to Ohio, Michigan and Florida by snake-oil salesmen to cut deficits when in fact it was increased defense spending, together with the Bush tax cuts that were key reason why America went from a fiscal surplus of 2% of GDP when Bush was elected to its parlous deficit and debt position today. That is the real reason wieners like Rep. Eric Cantor say the country needs to find savings elsewhere before helping the people of Vermont after a catastrophe.

Efficient modern financial market have turned out to be nothing but a pipedream as they've turned out to be worse than those in the time of Jean Valjean. We've spent countless trillions propping up a system that is rotten to the core. Without Faux News or lunatics screaming CNBC about subsidizing deadbeat homeowners creating moral hazard we may have done just that, keeping a roof over people's head instead of, you know, creating moral hazard by giving cash to the bank. The muppets keep droning on spouting supposed financial forecasting knowing full well that economists are nothing but people who see something working in practice and try to figure out if it would work in theory. Voila, socialized losses and privatized gains for the banks. The financial system creates NO wealth on its own, its value lies in its ability to efficiently allocate capital, to smoothly transfer money from savers to spenders. The key word is efficiently, there shouldn't be much friction in the system. Yet the µ (Mu) has been rising - the financial industry has increase its share of US domestic corporate profits from 16% in 1985 to over 40% today.

One need look no further than the hostage taking of Dollarmageddon this summer for proof of a nation having difficulties managing its debt. Here we see the malevolent influence of money on the gears of power as the paid lackeys parading as congressmen in Washington do the bidding of their corporate masters, creating a crisis to allow them to implement their agenda. This Kibuki theatre play is worsened by the false-front democracy of a two-party system where one is dumb, greedy, evil and only exists to be re-elected in the next cycle and the other is well, a bit dumber, greedier and more evil hoping to be elected in the next cycle. In fact, faced with a near insurmountable mountain of debt and only two ways to narrow the deficit, lowering spending and raising taxes, not one of the presidential candidates for the dumber, greedier and eviler side would consider the latter. That'll get you a credit downgrade and qualify as a difficulty managing debt.

Bigger? Click.

The final ingredient in the French Revolution, a ruling class disconnected and isolated from the realities of the day-to-day life of the population, is in heavy supply in today's America. Wall Street controls Washington through K Street with no regard to Main Street. It turns out that at a time when austerity for everyone but the rich in order to pay back the banks leaving less money for the economy is the only accepted prescription offered by the ruling class, it's better to have no government like in Belgium. You'd expect some empathy when thanks to the recession, the number of American families no longer earning enough to pass the minimum threshold to pay income tax has risen from 30% to 47%. Never mind that the number of children now living in poverty has risen to 15 million, 21% of all children in the US, that 45 million people rely on food stamps to survive, or that these people pay a myriad of other more regressive taxes such as payroll, sales, state and local - no, the crazier party believes they should pay more. That's right, CEO's who are massively rewarded with higher pay for helping their corporations dodge taxes don't need to pay any taxes (a must read report, infographic on the left), but the poor, well, they need to pay more. Forget that it's those people spending that keeps the economy going - consumer spending accounts for 70% of economic activity - they need to be taxed more. About the only elite who doesn't seem blind to the chaos caused by the chasm between us and them is one of the three richest men in the world, Warren Buffet, who took the the NY Times op-ed page to call for an end to the coddling of the super-rich. What, and have them pay as much as under Clinton? Outrageous!

Our democracy is but a name. We vote. What does that mean? It means that we choose between two bodies of real -- though not avowed -- autocrats. We choose between 'Tweedledum' and 'Tweedledee'.
- Helen Keller

In fact, some elites have become so blinded with rage by the situation somehow caused by the rest, they've decided to pull up stakes and let the poor fend for themselves. Yep, John Galt himself would be proud. Those who in their benevolence choose to stay and help us poor plebs will be sure to fight to ensure that all of their tax advantages stay in place. Of course the politicians in Washington, most of whom are part of the 1% anyway, have every incentive to only listen to the richest voices, they'll need jobs after getting out of office, self-interest and all, you know? Strangely - or more correctly - predictably enough, turns out senators only listen to the rich (PDF of study here). No wonder that slightly more evil party even thinks poor people voting is un-American.

It's all about convincing enough of the people things are fine and lies, such as the one that businesses aren't hiring because of taxes and regulation. The corporate tax rate is supposedly the highest in the world at 35% yet over 100 companies on the S&P 500 paid less than 20%, GE earned billions at home while paying nothing as did at least 15 others. Media, from Hollywood to your iPad has served her corporate masters well as it seems as long as we can buy more stuff, never mind if it's made in China and sold at Wal-Mart, everything is better than before. Amazingly, with all of the propaganda their exposed to, when asked about income distribution, Americans tend to think they live in Sweden, wish they lived in a Socialist utopia but in fact live in Turkmenistan or the Uganda. No offense Turkmen and Ugandans.

American workers' have seen their number of hours worked per week rise along with their productivity which magically seems to grow corporate profits but not median salaries. They put in an average of 122 more hours per year than Brits, 137 hours more than Japanese workers and 378 hours (nearly 10 weeks!) more than Germans. It's the only country besides Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Samoa, and Swaziland that doesn't legislate paid time off for new moms and the only country in the OECD where a right to weekends off and paid vacation time isn't guaranteed. The only explanation of satisfaction for those living in a country where income mobility is falling and people get excited when McDonald's is hiring is some weird twisted ur-myth of Ben Franklin-Horatio Alger-Henry Ford where through hard work one can attain the American Dream and become rich and successful. To get ahead though, a 70-hour work week has become the new standard. I've got news for anyone who doesn't realize the economic catastophe of the past few years will make it easier for employers to demand more while giving less. Is there any wonder why illegal drug use is at a decade high and prescription drug abuse has surged 400% in a decade while mental illness has skyrocketed?

Reality doesn't hit most until they're one of the 50 million Americans without health insurance and they get sick in a country that spends the most for health care (about double) for less than average results. They don't care until joining the 25.3 million Americans out of work, forced to work part-time, unable to find a full-time job or have given up searching for a job in the past month. Giving up is easy when they realize there is one job for every 4.5 job seekers. If you're wondering where the jobs are check out the chart to the right. By avoiding the responsibilities of taxes that mere people are required to pay and squeezing ever higher productivity out of workers while firing domestically and hiring elsewhere, American corporations are sitting pretty while workers only defense in the past, unions, are losing more and more power. In fact, the ratio of corporate profits to wages is now higher than any time since before the Great Depression. Apple, Exxon and Goldman Sachs don't exist to make our lives better in the crony capitalism that we've allowed to develop, in fact they seem a lot better at making them worse - just like the economy is going to get on our present course, hello double dip, er, recession I mean! Will it take a Robespierre to rally the retards or will enough people simply pitching tents on Wall Street September 17th to let the banksters know the other 99% are suffering? Either way, I'd say let capitalism make you rich and invest in a good, solid guillotine maker.

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Part-time recluse, part-time rockstar,full-time ranter. Paying the bills teaching English in the wild west of capitalism.
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